This place is very secluded with no cell service and no water along the trail. This whole area was strip mined and the water is polluted with heavy metals. The trail is rugged and not recommended for beginners, especially carrying all that water! Lots of wildlife: owls, coyotes, tons of woodpeckers and birds. Saw a large black snake on the trail too. Campsite was fine. Didn’t see much trash but there were many loud ATV riders in the morning which was a buzz kill.

I'm pretty new at this, only my third trip, I really enjoyed this hike. About 13.5 miles, went counter clockwise, a lot of rock formations, some old oil pump rigs, nice spot along stream about 3 mi in for lunch, several established camps the first 9 miles, did a 1 nite, 1 1/2 day trip. A couple of fairly steep climbs, but not bad if you take your time.

Great trail. Only takes about 25 minutes. Trails are marked. ONE SQUARE = STRAIGHT. TWO SQUARES= what ever side the top square is, that’s the way the trail goes. (Left top square, go left, right top square go right) 3 SQUARES= either way

Great trail. We did this as a day trip and went counter clockwise. Lots of spiders on the first half. I found it to be a little bit better marked than other reviews have suggested. We only noticed Natural Gas smell at a couple of spots next to a pretty obvious natural gas processing area. The second half featured some pretty awesome weathered sandstone. I would make sure to map your route to the trailhead prior to getting close as there isn't any reception.

Amazing hike!! So much to see and explore along this trail... you really get a bit of everything. Bring a camera with a nice lens and capture some great nature photos with the family!!! Can't wait to go back!

I have grown up going to strawberry lane for family picnics & squires castle for high school hang outs. Now I have introduced my daughter and dogs to the wonderful trails through this beautiful Metro park area. We just went yesterday and did the loop on the bridle trail around and down to the back of the castle. A lot of incline and tree roots, you really feel like your hiking. Hidden bridges. There are alternates paths you can venture on. Careful not to get lost. If you start the bridle trail right when you get into the parking lot, take the incline and follow the blue flower symbol in the signs. You will wind & twist threw the woods up and down and across bridges. No water back through this trail. Then you make the decline down to the castle. Take an easy route down or do some climbing to get down, your choice. It’s a great way to # getoutside #climbthings #explore. We take our 2 Rottweilers, very pet friendly.

Lovely easy trail along the ledges of large rock formations. The stairway created by the civilian conservation corps is really cool and worth checking out. The signage can be confusing. We ended up doing a loop on the happy days trail and then back on track with the ledges.

Combining the 6 mile loop with some of the bike trails makes this a much more challenging hike. It's a beautiful little loop with lots of shade and the river is fun to relax by in the summer because of the tube and canoe traffic.

Great trail, I didn't encounter many other people on the trail but several near the river on kayaks or tubes. Wish I'd had brought a tube in my backpack for the way back, would have been cool to hike from the campground to the falls and then tube back on the river. I did 6-8 miles roughly and it was a nice hike, I'd definitely say moderate not hard.